Originally Posted by The Great Owl
What's up with all of the Spielberg naysayers?
I'm the proud owner of a few choice Steven Spielberg movies, and I cannot imagine falling out of love with these movies...
Duel
This one is suspenseful and epic without wasting a single second. This is movie minimalism done right, and I've loved it since childhood. Duel really needs a Blu-ray upgrade.
Jaws
Jaws deserves every ounce of its acclaim over the decades. It's a masterwork example of how to pace a story for maximum effect and how to generate suspense. Yes, this movie borrows heavily from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, but it does so with tremendous glee. I love the lived-in feel of the movie and the easy-going character interactions. The shark effects are awesome...just awesome.
I also love how the people on the beach in Jaws actually look like real people. Pudgy little kids, weathered elderly people, people with goofy clothes, etc. If Jaws were made today by another director, everyone on the beach would have a perfect body with six-pack abs.
(Also, the fact that the Mayor was played by Murray Hamilton, who also starred in Anatomy of a Murder and Seconds, makes this a Criterion-related post. Faintly, yes, but surely.)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Another Spielberg film that looks so much more epic and expensive than it probably was. It's heartwarming in a way that doesn't overstay its welcome.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
One of the most perfect adventure films, and a beautiful throwback to matinee movies of the old days.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
A near-perfect adventure film that cracks me up to this day. Gotta love the dinner scene. "I had bugs for lunch." "Snake surprise!" "Chilled monkey brains!"
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The concept manages to avoid wearing thin here, thanks to some outstanding chase scenes.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I dock this one several points for the use of digital effects, but it's a decent and unfairly-maligned adventure film. Cate Blanchett with black hair and a Russian uniform works for me. I can't readily explain why, but it just works for me.
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Great use of John Ford's The Quiet Man in this movie! On its own terms, E.T. works in a way that seems so effortless, but was quite well played. The camera is close to the ground for much of the movie, as if to portray things from a child's eyes or a short alien's eyes. On a more superficial level, this movie makes me want to tear through some Reese's Pieces.
Poltergeist
Yeah, Tobe Hooper was the director, but Spielberg's involvement is crucial, and every scene exudes Spielberg's childlike wonder. This really is one of the most killer horror films out there. I'm 42 years old, and the clown doll still freaks me out.
Jurassic Park
There's some unnecessary fluff in this one, and I would have preferred a more faithful adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel. A faithful adaptation would not have put record audiences in the seat, though, and this movie is so resplendent with its merchandising genius that I cannot help but appreciate the whole affair.
In truth, it's like the Tyrannosaurus Rex attack scene on the Jeep vehicles is the steak, and the rest of the movie is simply the side dishes. That Tyrannosaurus Rex scene is awesome and riveting enough to earn my respect. Even if Spielberg had never created anything other than this one sequence, he would still be my hero.
Schindler's List
I "enjoy" this movie in the sense that I love watching how Spielberg guides the viewer to the emotional gut-punch at the end. It's heavy-handed, but in a necessary way. Spielberg also makes keen use of some noir-esque shadowplay. I love the scene where the shadows obscure the Nazi official's eyes when he takes the diamond bribe from Schindler.
War of the Worlds
I consider this to be one of Spielberg's most underrated movies. I have always been a huge fan of the H.G. Wells source novel, and this movie captures the spirt of that story so well. The scene of the tripods emerging over a distant hill in the countryside by a river is exactly what I envisioned when I used to read the novel during childhood. Spielberg nails this H.G. Wells novel spot-on.
In all fairness, there's a good reason why I do not own several of Spielberg's other movies, but there are a few gaps that I'd like to fill. Saving Private Ryan is nowhere near as effective as Malick's The Thin Red Line, but it's a strong movie nonetheless.
It's strange, but the women in most of Spielberg's movies do not exude any real sex appeal at all. I do not know if this is simply because of Spielberg's intent to show movies from a boy's treehouse club perspective, where girls were not yet sexualized in our eyes, or if it's an intention to portray strong females that are not objectified. Karen Allen in Raiders of the Lost Ark is attractive to me simply because of her spunky nature, but she's not overtly sexualized. The sexiest female in a Spielberg movie is Cate Blanchett in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Actually, the sexiest is Ashley Scott's purple-haired love android in A.I. Artificial Intelligence, but she's only shown for two seconds in the film.
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